


ever blue

by sskr



Category: Free!
Genre: Explicit Sexual Content, First Kiss, First Love, First Time, Heavy Side Ships, M/M, Summer Camp
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-06
Updated: 2018-09-06
Packaged: 2019-07-07 16:07:20
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,113
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15911670
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sskr/pseuds/sskr
Summary: There were a few things Rin was sure he’d learn after being a summer camp counselor for three months: camp songs, how to light up a fire and how to make friendship bracelets.What he didn’t expect was that he’d also learn what true friendship is, how to kiss someone and how to deal with heartbreak.





	ever blue

**Author's Note:**

> summer: [is over]  
> my brain: write a summer camp au!!
> 
> Hello and welcome to this fic, which I didn’t expect to post so soon but posting somehow is my only way to get over writers block??
> 
> I know that summer vacations in Japan don’t work like this, but I needed them to last from June to August like they do in my country, so please pretend like it works like this in Japan too.
> 
> Also, I would like to state that the first chapters may be a bit boring because I wanted to focus on the friendships and all the different characters at first, as they all have an important role in this story (notice the ‘heavy side ships’ tag).
> 
> Come follow me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/sskr_twt)
> 
> Enjoy (｡•̀ᴗ-)✧

Rin doesn’t think he’s ready. Scratch that, he _knows_ he isn’t ready, doesn’t matter how many times he’s read that ‘How to be a Great Camp Counselor (with Pictures)’ article on WikiHow.

“It’s getting late,” Rin’s mom huffs, throwing a glance at the clock hung on the kitchen wall, “should we go wake Gou up?”

Rin takes a bite of his toast and turns to look at the clock, “Mom,” he sighs, “it’s still 6am.”

“I know, but..” she starts.

“Ma, you’re worrying too much again,” Rin interrupts her, “and you know what your doctor has to say about that. Just relax, we won’t have to leave the house until 8 anyway.”

“Okay,” she takes a deep breath, “did you end up packing everything yesterday?”

Rin nods, “I only left my toothbrush out.”

“Good, don’t forget it,” she retorts, “Gou has everything, right?”

“Yes,” Rin answers, “we triple-checked her bag already yesterday.”

“I know I’m being a bother,” his mom confesses, “but you’ll both be leaving for three months and..”

“It was the only choice you could make,” Rin assures her, “you have to go organise that wedding in the States, you don’t have to worry about leaving us alone. Gou has already been to _Ever Blue_ twice and I.. I know how to adjust.”

His mom visibly relaxes after his words, and Rin smiles at her. Truth be told, he’s the one who’s worried. His mom has bad separation anxiety, has had it ever since her husband died, leaving her all alone with two kids. Still, she’s strong, she’s the strongest person Rin knows because she still had the strength to raise them both, all on her own, without ever asking anyone for help. And, after everything that she did for them, Rin knows that this is an important step in her career as a wedding planner, and he wants to support her as much as possible. Even if that means becoming a summer camp counselor for three whole months.

They could have easily stayed home, but Gou insisted that she wanted to go to the summer camp again this year and their mom felt safer if Rin were with her, so they’ve made this decision. They’re both going to go to the _Ever Blue_ summer camp for its whole duration of three months: Gou as a camper and Rin as a counselor.

“First day of camp, first day of camp!” Gou yells as she skips down the stairs, then she raises her eyebrows as she sees them both already at the table, “oh, you’re already here? Why didn’t you wake me up earlier? What’s for breakfast?”

She’s usually excited about everything, but this is too much even for her standards and Rin almost cries when he thinks that he’ll have to deal with fifteen kids who are as easily excitable as her.

She grabs her toast and starts eating, humming a camp song as she chews, Rin recognises it - she used to sing it all the time last summer after she came back - and shaking her head side to side, her long ponytail swinging with her.

“I’m so excited!” she exclaims, “Onii-chan, aren’t you excited?”

Rin can’t suppress a smile and he gives in, “Sure.”

“I hope you’ll get to be the counselor of my group!” she continues, “imagine how much fun we would have!”

“I don’t think you’ll be together, sweetie,” their mom intervenes, “but you’ll still get to see each other a lot.”

“You’re right,” Gou pouts, “Ran and Ren weren’t allowed to be with Makoto last year.”

Rin knows _everything_ about Ran and Ren, as they’re Gou’s best friends from summer camp. They’re older than Gou by a few months, but they’re all six years old. They have an older brother named Makoto, who’s apparently been a counselor for the past few years. They’re one of the few who stay for the whole duration of the camp.

“I can’t wait to see Ran again,” Gou continues with a dreamy sigh.

“What about Ren?” Rin asks.

“He’s nice, too, but he’s a boy,” Gou whines, “boys are annoying.”

“Good,” Rin nods. He’s not _overly_ protective, shut up.

They finish breakfast and Gou and Rin head back upstairs to brush their teeth and get dressed. When they’re done, Rin grabs all their bags and brings them downstairs. With his mom’s help they put them in the car, and then it’s time to say their goodbyes.

“Be careful,” their mom says, kneeling down so she can look at Gou straight in the eyes, “do everything that your brother or the other counselors tell you and don’t cause too much trouble.”

“Don’t worry, Ma,” Gou grins, “they praised me for being the best behaved last year.”

“Good,” their mom nods, “I love you, sweetie, okay? I’ll call you every Saturday.”

“I love you, too,” Gou smiles, catching a tear that has escaped their mom’s eye with her little hand.

They hug tightly, and then Gou gets in the car and leaves their mom with Rin, “Yes, I’ll be on my best behaviour, too,” he grins before she can even open her mouth.

“Okay,” she sighs as she caresses his hair, “look out for your sister and don’t just stay with your classmates, get to know the other counselors as well.”

“Yessir,” Rin says, doing the salute and his mom laughs. They hug as well and then Rin gets in the car.

“Remember the three rules,” their mom says as Rin quickly texts Uozumi to let him know that he’s leaving now.

“Rule one: be safe,” Rin and Gou say in perfect sync, “rule two: be safe and rule three: have fun.”

“Good,” she smiles, “bye babies, have fun!”

“We will,” Rin promises and then starts the engine.

Gou is already turning the radio on and singing along to the songs, chatting happily once the DJs start talking and playing with Rin’s phone.

“Who’s Takuya?” she asks after a while, “he texted you.”

“It’s Uozumi,” Rin explains, “he goes to my school. He was a counselor last year.”

“Oh, I remember him!” she exclaims, “he always hung out with the pretty one, the one with nice hair.”

Rin laughs, “That would be Kazuki. What does the text say?”

“He says that he’s leaving now as well,” Gou reads, “what do I tell him?”

“Just send him a K,” Rin tells her.

“What does that mean?” she asks, turning to look at him.

“It means okay,” Rin explains.

She types it and then stops, “Can I add an emoji?”

“Sure,” Rin shrugs.

She shrieks happily and spends a long time choosing one, before settling on the unicorn and then she sends the text and goes back to playing.

The summer camp isn’t that far from their place, so it doesn’t take them long to arrive, just a little over twenty minutes. When they finally do Rin spends a lot of time trying to find parking in the apposite parking lot and then they get out of the car. Rin grabs their bags, his duffel bag on his shoulder and Gou’s carry on with his hand, takes Gou’s hand in his and follows her lead.

They’re surrounded by green, Rin notices, but that’s a given as the camp takes place in a forest. The entrance is marked by a sign hung between two trees, which says: ‘Welcome to Ever Blue’ and there’s a booth next to it, where a dark blonde man and a young-looking woman are standing. Rin gets in line for the entrance booth with Gou and they wait. 

Their turn comes after more time than Rin expected. Apparently all those people in line before them are parents who are only dropping their kids off, and they spend a lot of time crying and saying goodbye. 

“Hello and welcome to Ever Blue,” the woman smiles once they’re standing in front of her - her name tag reads ‘Miho’ - then she notices Gou, “oh, it’s you, Gou-chan!”

“It’s nice to see you again, Matsuoka,” the man exclaims, “where’s your mom?”

“Onii-chan is here with me this time,” she replies, “he’s gonna be a counselor.”

“Oh, you’re the one who told us that you couldn’t come earlier like the other counselors?” the man, whose name tag reads ‘Goro’ asks.

“Yeah,” Rin admits sheepishly, scratching the back of his neck.

“Don’t worry about that,” Goro laughs, reaching out and giving him a friendly pat on the arm, “most counselors whose younger siblings attend do that. It’s fine, the new counselors usually come earlier to get used to the camp, but we’ll make someone show you around after you settle down.”

“Perfect,” Rin smiles, “thanks.”

Goro and Miho quickly check their IDs and then they put a red bracelet on Gou’s wrist and a black one on Rin’s. Then they hand Rin a name tag which just says his name and Rin feels relieved that he doesn’t get a cringy code name. He read stuff on the internet about summer camp counselors having code names, and he really doesn’t want to be called Marshmallow or Snuggles for three months.

“Seijuurou here will show you your cabins,” Miho says, pointing at a guy who’s standing next to the booth with his hands behind his back, a toothpick in his mouth. 

The guy, Seijuurou, his name tag reads just ‘Sei’ though, smiles at them, then he reaches out to pat Gou’s head, “Hello, princess.”

“Sei!” she exclaims, “Onii-chan, this is Sei, he was the counselor of my group two years ago.”

“Nice to meet you,” Rin says, slightly bowing his head.

“So you’re the famous Onii-chan,” Seijuurou smirks, “I heard all kind of things about you. It’s great to have you as a counselor. Do you know that I used to go to your school?”

“Seriously?” Rin asks as they start following Seijuurou who, thankfully, helps him with the luggage by taking Gou’s carry on, “you used to go to Samezuka?”

Seijuurou nods, “I was the captain of the swim team, but I think I graduated before you arrived.”

“Wait..” Rin stops, “ _you_ ’re captain Mikoshiba? Momo’s brother?”

Seijuurou laughs, “Yeah, it’s me.”

“Is Momo also here?” Rin asks, frankly a bit scared because he knows Momo and how energy-draining it is to be around him.

Seijuurou shakes his head, “He’s studying in Australia at the moment, he’ll join us in August, though.”

Rin nods, relieved.

“There are others from your school, by the way,” Seijuurou informs him, “I think there’s a few of them.”

“Yeah,” Rin nods, “Kazuki, Nakagawa, Uozumi and Iwashimizu. They’re my friends.”

“There’s also another one,” Seijuurou informs him, “Nitori. I’m pretty sure he’s gonna be your roommate.”

“Oh, I’ve never heard of him,” Rin says, “I usually only hang out with the swim club at school.”

“I see,” Seijuurou nods, “Nitori is in the cooking club, he also helps out in the kitchen here when he has time. He makes a mean omelette.”

“Good to know,” Rin nods.

“Well, we’re here, princess,” Seijuurou announces as they stop in front of a cabin, “I’m not supposed to tell you this, but I pulled some strings and made sure you were rooming with Ran and Chigusa.”

“Really?” Gou yells, eyes sparkling and Seijuurou nods, “thank you so much!”

“Go inside now, they’re waiting for you,” he says, “Aki will stop by in a bit to help you unpack.”

“Okay,” Gou smiles and walks a few steps before stopping and turning around, “bye Onii-chan, I’ll see you at lunch!” and then she heads inside.

“Our cabins are a bit further,” Seijuurou explains as they start walking again.

“It’s fine,” Rin nods.

“Your cabin is..” Seijuurou trails off as he looks at the list in his hands, “number 10.”

They chat while walking there, mostly about their school and the teachers and Seijuurou tells him some funny anecdotes about his times at Samezuka. 

“This is your cabin,” Seijuurou says as they stop in front of one, “I’ll give you time to settle down, now. Lunch is at 1 in the dining hall.”

“Where’s the dining hall?” Rin asks.

“Oh, right,” Seijuurou says, and then hands him a map of the place, “please tell me you’re good with maps, one of our counselors isn’t and he wandered into the forest for hours before we found him.”

Rin laughs, “Don’t worry, I’m good with directions.”

“Good,” Seijuurou nods, “well, I’ll leave you to it. Gotta get back to showing the kids around.”

“See you later,” Rin says and Seijuurou nods before taking off.

Rin turns to look at the wooden cabin, takes a deep breath and then goes in. It’s.. smaller than he thought it would be. There’s a bunk bed, a desk with a chair and a wardrobe, and a door that Rin assumes heads to the bathroom. It’s empty apart from that. And apart from the guy who, only in his underwear, turns to look at him like a deer in the headlights.

“Yo,” Rin says, dropping his duffel bag on the floor, “I’m Rin. You must be Nitori?”

“Nitori Aiichiro, Sir,” he replies, completely serious.

“You.. you don’t have to call me Sir,” Rin states, a bit weirded out.

“I’m sorry, Matsuoka-senpai,” Aiichiro nods.

“No need for that,” Rin shakes his head.

“Top or bottom?” Aiichiro asks him.

“Uh?” 

“The bunk beds,” Aiichiro specifies, “do you prefer the top one or the bottom one?”

“Bottom,” Rin is quick to say, then he puts his bag on his bed and starts unpacking.

“Did someone already show you around?” Aiichiro asks as he starts getting dressed in the camp uniform: a blue t-shirt with the logo of the camp on it and some comfortable shorts.

Rin shakes his head, “Mikoshiba only showed me the way here.”

“Then..” Aiichiro takes a deep breath, “may I show you around?”

Rin shrugs, as he puts the few clothes he brought with him - he knew they’d be given their uniforms - in the wardrobe, “Sure.”

“Thank you,” Aiichiro says, eyes sparkling.

“You go to Samezuka, right?” Rin asks once he’s done putting his stuff in its place and he and Aiichiro heads outside of the cabin.

Aiichiro nods, “I’ll be a third-year in September.”

“I see,” Rin nods, “I used to go there, I just graduated.”

“Oh, I know that,” Aiichiro confesses, “I went to all of your swim meets!”

“Oh..” Rin says, “thanks?”

“I was so moved by the way you swim,” Aiichiro confesses, “it actually made me want to start swimming, I tried out for the team but I didn’t get in.”

“It’s hard to get in,” Rin shrugs.

“So..” Aiichiro starts, “these are the communal showers for us counselors. Unfortunately there aren’t showers in our cabins to we have to go here. These ones are for men.”

Aiichiro drags him all around the camp. He shows him first the space where the female counselors are staying, which isn’t that far from theirs. Then he takes him of a tour of where the cabins for the campers are and Rin learns that campers of all ages from four to thirteen attend and they’re divided in groups by age. Then, they adventure further into the camp and Aiichiro shows him the dining hall. They complete the tour after a look at the sports facilities. 

“We also take them to the lake once a month,” Aiichiro explains as he shows him the pool, “but that’s a bit away and we get there with the bus, so I can’t show it to you right now.”

“It’s fine,” Rin nods, “you’ve already done a lot.”

Aiichiro smiles, “I’m going to go help out in the kitchen now. You could come with me, if you want, the other counselors should be there already if you want to meet them.”

“Sure,” Rin shrugs.

They go back to the dining hall Aiichiro disappears in the kitchens, leaving Rin in front of a table full of people around his age who are chatting loudly. Thankfully, he manages to find his friends and goes to sit next to them, “Yo.”

“Rin!” Kazuki exclaims, “we were waiting for you! Where were you?”

“Nitori was showing me around,” Rin explains and Kazuki giggles, “What?”

“He was really excited to meet you,” Uozumi explains, “he went nuts last year when he found out we were friends with you.”

“Yeah, I noticed,” Rin retorts, “he’s a good kid.”

They stay there chatting until a delicious smell starts coming from the kitchens and Seijuurou and a young woman - Kazuki tells him that she’s Aki - enter the dining hall, followed by all the kids. They all quickly stand up - Nakagawa explained to him that they eat after the kids are done - and go to the side of the room while the kids sit at the tables. Rin spots Gou at a table and he walks there.

“Did you settle in alright?” he asks her.

Gou looks up from her food, “Onii-chan!” she exclaims, “yes, I did, Aki helped me unpack.”

“Good,” Rin nods, then takes a look at her plate and quickly decides that she has enough food, “I’ll see you later, then.”

“Bye,” she smiles, and Rin heads back to his friends.

They wait until the children are done eating and then Seijuurou and Aki lead them back to their cabins. Finally, Rin and the others can sit down and eat. Rin goes to the buffet and grabs a few things, then heads back to his table. 

While they’re eating, Seijuurou and Aki come back and Seijuurou claps twice to get everyone’s attention, “Hello everyone,” he smiles, “and welcome to another camp.”

“I see some new faces and some old ones,” Aki continues, “as every year, I wanted to tell the new counselors not to be scared and to just make this as enjoyable as possible for our children.”

“I’ll tell you which groups you’re assigned to now,” Seijuurou announces, opens a folded piece of paper and starts reading, “Makoto and Haru, you’re with team 1..”

Rin sees two guys nod and waits for his name to be called, which comes sooner than he expected.

“Rin and Asahi, you’re with team 2,” Seijuurou says and Kazuki smirks.

“What?” Rin asks.

“You’re with the children,” Kazuki explains, “the teams start with the lower ages, so if you’re with team 2 you’ll be with the four and five year olds, along with Mako and Haru.”

“That’s fine,” Rin shrugs, “I’ve had so much experience from when Gou was that age.”

“They’re a handful,” Nakagawa nods, “but they’re way better than the teenagers we always get stuck with.”

Just as he predicted, Nakagawa and Kazuki get paired up and end up with the twelve and thirteen year olds, same for Uozumi and Iwashimizu. They all groan and Rin, like the good friend he is, laughs at their pain.

“This is it,” Aki concludes, then she checks the list again, “ah, Kisumi, you’ll be alone for the first few days, Sousuke will be a bit late this year.”

“It’s fine,” a pink-haired guy smiles while throwing a peace sign, “I can handle the kids.”

“Perfect,” Aki concludes, “now we’ll go over the program for the first week.”

Rin almost dozes off as she and Seijuurou tell them all the schedule. The only thing that makes him happy is that today is rest day as it’s a Sunday and all the activities will start tomorrow. Tonight, apparently, there will be the first bonfire at the beach and everyone seems to be excited by that.

“Everyone loves the bonfires,” Iwashimizu explains to a very confused Rin, “they’re every Sunday and we sing and make s’mores, the kids go crazy for those, and then, after the kids go to bed, we get wasted.”

“Good,” Rin smirks, “I could really use a drink right now.”

“Overwhelmed? Just wait until you start dealing with the kids.”

Rin turns around and the pink-haired guy, Kisumi, stands there with a smirk, “You’re the one who stole Asahi from me.”

“What?” Rin can only ask.

“You’re paired with Asahi this year,” Kisumi says, as if that explains everything.

“Kisumi and Asahi have been co-counselors for years,” Kazuki clarifies.

“Well,” Kisumi shrugs, “you’re lucky you’re pretty.”

Rin is feeling so confused right now, “I’m sorry?”

“You’re pretty, I like pretty people,” Kisumi repeats, waving his hand around as his bracelets make tingling sounds, “just don’t steal Asahi and we’ll be fine, I called dibs, like, years ago.”

“Sure,” Rin shrugs, “I won’t.”

“Good, now we can be friends,” Kisumi smiles and takes hold of his arm, “I’ll introduce you Asahi now. Remember, hands off.”

Rin, still _very_ confused, throws a look at his friends, who just laugh, and then lets Kisumi drags him to meet the famous Asahi.

“Asahi!” Kisumi exclaims and a red-haired guy turns around, “I found the guy you were looking for.”

“Oh, you’re Rin?” Asahi asks, visibly chewing on a gum, “nice to meet you, man.”

“Same,” Rin replies, “we’ll be working together, right?”

Asahi nods, “Yeah, we’re with the youngest.”

“I think my brother’s going to be in your group,” Kisumi butts in, “either in yours or in Mako’s.”

“Oh, Hayato’s here?” Asahi asks.

“Yeah,” Kisumi replies, “mom finally convinced him.”

“My sister’s also here,” Rin intervenes, “her name is Gou and..”

“You’re Gou’s brother?” Asahi asks, raising his eyebrows, “man, she talks about you all the time!”

“She really looks up to you,” Kisumi smiles fondly.

“Yeah, she does,” Rin chuckles.

“I remember last year,” Asahi starts, laughing, “she wanted to cut her hair by herself to look like you. Thankfully, we stopped her.”

“That was memorable,” Kisumi adds, “she cried so much when we told her she couldn’t cut her hair herself.”

“She’s.. a wild one,” Rin admits with a laugh.

“I hope she’s in my group and not in Natsuya’s,” Kisumi sighs, “she’s the best at basketball.”

“Oh, you’re the one who taught her to play?” Rin asks, “she told me all about that, said that you’re amazing at it.”

Kisumi shrugs, “I’m okay at basketball.”

“Oh shut up,” Asahi butts in, “you went to nationals this year! You got a scholarship for it!”

Kisumi blushes and scratches the back of his head, “Yeah, I guess I did.”

“Really?” Rin asks, “you went to nationals? I did, too, but for swimming.”

“You swim?” Asahi’s eyes light up, “which stroke?”

“Butterfly and free are my best ones,” Rin says, “you swim, too?”

Asahi nods enthusiastically, “I swim butterfly. Man, we’re _so_ beating Mako’s kids this year.”

“There are competitions?” Rin asks.

“Unofficial ones,” Kisumi explains, “Miho and Goro would be mad if they found out that we do it, because they don’t want the kids to get too competitive.”

“Oh, everyone’s already left,” Asahi points out, looking around and tapping his foot, “come on, let’s go back to the cabins.”

The three of them start walking back to the cabins, while asking Rin all kinds of questions, and Rin finds out that they’re all the same age and that they’re both going to college in Tokyo.

“I mean, Iwatobi’s great,” Asahi is saying, taking another gum from his packet and putting it in his mouth, “but there aren’t a lot of opportunities for us athletes. Tokyo, on the other hand. Where are you going to college?”

“I’m going to Tokyo as well,” Rin answers.

“Really?” Kisumi exclaims, clapping his hands, “that’s amazing. We could meet up when we’ll all be there.”

“Sure,” Rin smiles. 

“It’s a date, then,” Kisumi announces, “pinky promise.”

Rin stares at him and finds that Kisumi is dead serious as he’s holding out his pinky. Rin throws a look at Asahi, who’s mouthing to him to just go along with it, and interlocks his pinky with Kisumi’s.

Kisumi smiles brightly, “Now you can’t back out. Here, give me your number,” he says as he takes his phone out of his pocket.

Rin gives both of them his number and they give him theirs. 

“Perfect,” Kisumi says as they stop in front of cabin number 5, “we’re basically best friends now. Do you wanna come in?”

“You two are rooming together?” Rin asks and they nod, then they shrug, “sure, I’ll come in.”

Rin spends the rest of the day with them. He was initially kind of scared of Kisumi, but he turns out to be a nice guy. A bit.. eccentric maybe, but he makes sure to include Rin in conversations, explaining to him what they’re talking about.

Asahi is an okay guy as well and Rin doesn’t mind that they’re paired up together. He was worried when Gou had told him that he’d be paired up with someone, but now he feels relieved that it’s Asahi, even if he is always loudly chewing gums.

They keep chatting about themselves and the camp, Asahi and Kisumi telling him anecdotes from the past years and Rin finds out that they’ve been counselors for two years, this is their third. They’re watching some videos of last year’s recital, they did Grease, on Asahi’s phone when the bell rings, meaning that it’s dinner time.

“I can’t believe it’s this late already,” Kisumi says as they get out of the cabin and Rin finds himself agreeing. Time really did fly.

They head to the dining hall and wait for their turn to eat. This time two guys lead the kids in and out of the dining room.

“They’re Nao and Natsuya,” Asahi explains, “along with Sei and Aki they’re the ones who have been here the longest so they’re the supervisors.”

When they’re done eating they head to the beach, where the kids already are. 

“I’ll go help Sei with the fire,” Asahi excuses himself.

“He was a boy-scout when he was a kid,” Kisumi tells Rin, “he knows what he’s doing.”

They stare at Asahi and Seijuurou as they light up the bonfire, and Kisumi lets out a dramatic sigh, “What?” Rin asks him.

“He’s so manly!” Kisumi gushes, fanning himself with his hand, “look at those arms!”

“Asahi’s?” Rin asks.

“Yeah,” Kisumi nods, “but don’t look too long.”

“So.. you’ve had a crush on him for the past two years, huh?” Rin asks.

“From the moment I first saw him,” Kisumi smiles fondly, obviously thinking back on that particular moment, “we were paired up together and I got to know him. I fell for him the first summer.”

“And do you know if he feels the same?” Rin asks.

“The others say that he does,” Kisumi shrugs, “but I’m not so sure.”

“I hope it works out,” Rin tells him.

“Thanks,” Kisumi smiles, sincerely, “wait.. you’re not weirded out or disgusted?”

“Why would I be?” Rin asks.

Kisumi looks down at his shoes, “‘Cause we’re, you know, both men?”

“Then I would have to be disgusted with myself, too,” Rin smirks, “and I love myself too much for that.”

Kisumi looks up at him, raising his eyebrows, “You’re gay?”

“Bi,” Rin shrugs.

“Then you’ll fit in perfectly,” Kisumi laughs, clapping his hands.

“Why?” Rin asks.

“‘Cause most of us are like that, too,” Kisumi says, “see Natsuya and Nao? They’re engaged.”

“Really?” Rin’s eyebrows shoot up, “how old are they?”

“Two years older than us, crazy, right?” Kisumi smiles, “but they’ve been together since, like, middle school, so no one was surprised when they told us last year that they were getting married.”

“That’s.. wow,” Rin comments.

“I know, right?” Kisumi laughs, “when the kids found out, they planned a fake wedding for them, it was the funniest thing ever. Natsu and Nao had no idea and they were so shocked when they realised what was going on.”

“I can imagine,” Rin smiles.

Seijuurou and Asahi light up the fire and all the kids sit in a big circle around it, carefully not too close. The counselors sits with their groups, so Rin and Asahi look for team 2 and sit in between them. 

“You’re Gou’s brother?” 

Rin turns and sees a kid staring at him, big doe eyes open wide, “Yeah, how did you know that?

“You look alike,” the kid shrugs, “I’m Hayato.”

“Oh,” Rin has heard that name before, “you’re Kisumi’s brother?”

Hayato nods, “You know Onii-chan?”

“Yeah,” Rin smiles, “so.. you’re friends with Gou?”

Hayato smiles, “Misaki introduced us earlier, she’s the coolest girl I’ve ever met.”

Rin laughs, “She is kinda cool.”

Hayato opens his mouth to continue the conversation, but in that moment Seijuurou and Aki stand up and Seijuurou claps his hands twice to get everyone’s attention.

They start by welcoming everyone, then they tell the kids their schedule for tomorrow. After that, Aki smiles, “Now it’s time to play games!” and the kids cheer loudly.

“But before that, we have to get to know our new friends,” Seijuurou says, “everyone, introduce yourselves with your name and a fact about you. I’ll start: I’m Sei and I’m the master of beach volleyball. Next!”

“I’m Aki,” Aki smiles sweetly, “and I’m studying to become a teacher. Next!”

One of Aki and Seijuurou’s kids start introducing himself, and Rin notices Hayato squirm next to him, “What’s wrong?” Rin whispers to him.

“I don’t know what to say about myself,” Hayato confesses.

“Well,” Rin hums, “do you play a sport?”

Hayato shakes his head, “But my brother wants me to learn how to swim.”

“And do you want to?” Rin asks him.

“I don’t know..” Hayato murmurs, “I’m scared.”

“Then.. you could say..” Rin stops to think about it, “what do you wanna do when you grow up?”

“I want to become a firefighter!” Hayato exclaims, eyes lighting up, “they’re so cool.”

“Then say that,” Rin smiles and pats his head and Hayato finally looks at peace.

“I’m Asahi,” Asahi is saying, “and I’m the best swimmer here!”

“No, you’re not,” someone retorts and the kids burst out laughing.

“Shut up, Haru,” Asahi replies with a sickeningly sweet smile, making the kids laugh even harder.

The circle continues until it gets to Rin and he sees everyone staring at him, “I’m Rin and.. uhm.. I have a cat named Steve?”

The kids seem to deem it good enough and the circle goes on, much to Rin’s relief. The introductions finish soon enough and Rin is pretty sure he can now associate a few faces with the names. 

Then, they play games and learn songs until Rin is positively spent and Natsuya and Nao arrive with bags of marshmallows, making all the younger kids scream in excitement. They put them on sticks and start roasting them in the fire, then they start distributing them along with biscuits and chocolate bars, while Seijuurou explains how to piece it all together.

They wait until each kid has had one and then Aki and Seijuurou stand up again, “Did you have fun?” Aki asks with a bright smile and all the kids cheer.

“Unfortunately, it’s time to go to bed, now,” Seijuurou says, “your leaders will bring you back to the cabins.”

The kids reluctantly stand up and follow the counselors to the cabins. Asahi gets to the front of the group and tells Rin to go to the back, to make sure that no one gets lost as it’s dark. Rin nods and starts walking, holding Hayato’s hand. They reach the cabins where the girls will stay and they stop.

“Time for the ladies to go,” Asahi says, “do you all remember which one is your cabin?” and the girls say that they do, “good, Aki and Nii will stop by to turn off your lights, go get ready for bed now.”

The girls say their goodnight wishes to everyone and then they all head to their cabins. Asahi and Rin repeat the same process for the boys once they reach their cabins, and then they head back to their own ones.

“Man, I’m already tired,” Rin complains as they walk.

“Same,” Asahi agrees, “and we didn’t even do anything today. It will get worse.”

“That’s good to know,” Rin snorts.

“Kisumi says that we won’t be drinking tonight,” Asahi huffs after checking his phone.

“Why?” Rin asks.

“Apparently, Nao said that we shouldn’t on the first night as we need to be there for the kids,” Asahi explains, “the first night is always the worst for those who aren’t used to being apart from their parents.”

“That makes sense,” Rin nods, “even though I feel like I need a drink.”

“I know, right?” Asahi retorts, “I swear summer camp turns us all into alcoholics.”

Rin laughs and they stop in front of his cabin, “Good night,” Asahi tells him.

“Night,” Rin says back, and then he heads inside.

Aiichiro is already inside and he drops his phone on his face when he sees Rin.

“You okay?” Rin snorts.

“Sorry, sorry,” Aiichiro is quick to say.

“What are you even apologising for?” Rin asks him and Aiichiro opens his mouth a few times and then says nothing, “exactly. You don’t.. you don’t have to be nervous around me, you know?”

“It’s just..” Aiichiro blushes, “I really idolise you, Rin.”

Rin laughs, “There ain’t much to idolise, but thanks.”

“Oh, don’t say that!” Aiichiro exclaims, “you went to nationals and set a tournament record! You’re so fluent in English that they offered you..”

“Okay, okay,” Rin interrupts him, “I get it, but I’m pretty normal.. you know? Hopefully we can become friends.”

Aiichiro’s eyes sparkle, “I’d _love_ that!”

 

“Don’t press that, Natsuya, I swear to god,” a voice yells and Rin flinches awake.

“Wow, this is so cool, I can’t believe Aki and Sei let us do this.”

“Focus, Nat.”

Rin opens his eyes and turns to look around, trying to figure out where Natsuya and Nao are and why does it feel like they’re speaking into his ear, “What the..”

“Rise and shine, kids,” Natsuya continues, “I’m your host Kirishima Natsuya and this is..”

“Nat!” Nao sighs, “sorry about him, we just wanted to tell you all that it’s time to get up. Meet us at the dining hall in ten. Goodbye.”

“It’s the speakers,” Aiichiro explains, climbing down of his bed, “we have a system, there are speakers in every cabin. The kids have them, too, for communications.”

“I see,” Rin mumbles, still hugging his favourite pillow he brought from home, “what time is it?”

Aiichiro grabs his phone from the desk, “Ten minutes to seven.”

“We have to wake up this early every morning?” Rin whines.

“Yeah,” Aiichiro nods, “the kids won’t wake up until eight, but we gotta go over the schedule, help in the kitchen and all that stuff.”

Rin huffs, lets go of his pillow and gets up, stretching his arms as he feels Aiichiro’s eyes on him. He probably should have warned the kid that he only sleeps in his underwear and asked him is he was okay with it, but something tells him that Aiichiro doesn’t mind.

Rin heads to the bathroom to relieve himself and brush his teeth, then he goes back to the main room and gets dressed in one of the clean uniforms. Aiichiro is ready, and they head outside.

Nakagawa and Kazuki are walking ahead of them, Kazuki is complaining about Naka interrupting his beauty sleep with his snoring and Nakagawa saying that that much is obvious, as he looks hideous. They hit each other a few times, but they manage to arrive to the dining hall.

“Good morning,” Aki smiles at them when they enter and Rin slightly bows his head, “everyone’s here, we can start.”

“Okay,” Seijuurou says, going to the centre of the room, “today the activities start. I’m gonna give each one of you your schedule now,” and starts calling them by their names and handing them their schedules.

Rin takes a look at his, he has various sports in the morning, then lunch, two hours of break, and then a few games. It doesn’t sound too tiring for him and he’s pretty happy with it.

“Did you see?” Asahi says from his side, loudly chewing on his gum, “we’ve got the pool in the morning, time to train the little monsters for the competition.”

“Should we really be instigating them to become even more competitive?” someone from the other side of Asahi asks, worry evident in his voice.

Rin turns around and holy shit, the guy is tall. Rin thought he was pretty tall himself, but this guy is a mountain. He looks well built, too, with broad shoulders but a narrow waist. Built like a fucking Dorito.

“Of course, Mako, your kids have no chance this year,” Asahi smirks, putting his hand on Rin’s back and making him take a step forward, “my friend here set a tournament record at nationals.”

“Oh, I believe we weren’t introduced,” Mako smiles, “I’m Makoto, and, wow, that’s impressive.”

Rin feels his cheek heat up because the guy is drop dead gorgeous, with sparkling green eyes and messy light brown hair, “Rin, and thanks, it really isn’t that big of a deal.”

“You’re Rin?” Makoto asks and Rin nods, “I look forward to working with you, then, we all have the youngest kids. This is Haru, my.. co-counselor.”

The guy on Makoto’s side nods once and Rin nods back in acknowledgement.

“Wait, you’re Ran and Ren’s brother?” Rin asks, knowing that the name sounded familiar.

Makoto’s eyes light up at the mention of his siblings, “Yeah.”

“My sister is really good friends with them,” Rin explains.

“Oh, you’re Gou’s brother?” Makoto asks, “it’s nice to finally put a face to the name, I've heard a lot about you from my siblings.”

“Same here,” Rin laughs nervously, wondering just what Gou might have told them, “she was really happy to be in your group last year.”

“Last year was amazing,” Makoto says with a dreamy look in his eyes.

“You only said that ‘cause you and Sou won the best counselors award,” Kisumi intervenes, “but it’s mine this year.”

“You sure about that?” Asahi taunts.

“Of course I am,” Kisumi smirks confidently, “after all, I have Sou-chan this year.”

“Who’s Sou.. -chan?” Rin questions and he’s honestly tired of feeling so confused all the time.

“Yamazaki Sousuke,” Kisumi provides, “the damn best counselor we have. The kids are crazy about him.”

“That’s an understatement if I’ve ever heard one,” Asahi adds, “one of my kids cried yesterday because she thought Sousuke wasn’t gonna come back this year.”

“He’s _that_ good?” Rin asks.

“Yeah, no one knows how he does it but he’s magical with kids,” Asahi replies, “legends say that he knows how to make a kid stop crying in two seconds and a half.”

“Come on,” Makoto laughs, “that’s not true.”

“And he isn’t here right now?” Rin wonders, he could use some advice on how to make kids stop crying. He was never that good at it, thankfully Gou doesn’t really cry that much.

“He’s coming in a few days,” Kisumi informs him, “apparently he’s in Europe with his family right now.”

“Yeah, he’s in Italy,” Makoto confirms, “I called him yesterday.”

“Okay, it’s time to go wake up the kids,” Seijuurou exclaims, “Natsuya, Aki and Nii, come with me.”

Rin watches as they exit the room and finds that Nii is a pretty short girl, with bobbed black hair and piercing blue eyes. She has a nose ring and, when she walks past him, Rin finds himself surrounded by men perfume.

“Don’t they wake them up through the speakers, too?” Rin asks.

“Yeah, they have a nice song and everything,” Kisumi responds, “but some of them don’t want to get up so the counselors make them.”

“And we always are gonna have people screaming to wake us up?” Rin enquires.

“That’s just because Sei and Aki let Natsuya and Nao do it this morning, and Nat is easily excitable,” Asahi snickers, “but usually it’s way better, with Aki’s sweet voice and everything.”

“Yeah, this morning was a shock,” Kisumi agrees, “you should have seen the way Asahi shoot up and hit his head on my bed when Nao yelled. Nao _never_ raises his voice.”

“I’m sorry about this morning.”

“Speak of the devil,” Makoto laughs, “don’t worry about it, Nao.”

Rin turns to take a good look at Nao, as he didn’t see him properly yesterday, only from a far, and he finds himself wondering if Goro and Miho only hire good-looking people because holy shit this guy is pretty.

“You all know how Nat gets,” Nao explains with a sheepish smile, “he saw all those buttons at the office and wanted to press everything.”

“It’s fine,” Asahi assures him, “it just caught us by surprise.”

“You’re Matsuoka Rin?” Nao says and Rin gulps because the guy’s sharp gaze is focused on him, “it’s nice to have you, hope you’ll work hard.”

“I’ll try my best,” Rin promises. He thought that Nii was pretty intimidating, but this guy is a close second, even with that sweet smile on his face.

Nao nods once, seeming to deem it good enough, “Oh, also I wanted to tell you guys, if you make the kids pull another prank like last year’s, you’re dead. Bye.”

“Is he still mad about the wedding?” Kisumi whines and Rin remembers that he told him that the kids organised a fake wedding for him and Natsuya, “I thought he was over that. Do you think he’s gonna do something?”

“Nao’s not one to be vengeful, he’s too mature for that,” Makoto shakes his head, “but I did hear that he was the one who paired up Nagisa with the new guy so maybe he is a bit petty. You all know how Nagisa panics with new guys.”

“Wait,” Asahi says, “the wedding was Nagisa’s idea?”

“Ops,” Makoto scratches the back of his head, “I shouldn’t have said that.”

“But he told everyone that it was a kid’s idea,” Asahi insists.

“Nagisa is sneakier than you’d imagine,” Makoto shrugs.

The kids arrive and Rin is surprised at how quiet they are, all rubbing their eyes with their hands or barely suppressing yawns. Rin spots Gou in the front who, on the other hand, is talking excitedly with two twins, who Rin assumes are Ran and Ren. He smiles fondly, Gou’s always been a morning person. As the kids sit down with their food, Rin follows Makoto to their table. 

“Did you sleep well?” Rin asks Gou, kneeling down so that they’re the same height.

Gou nods as she chews on her toast, “Yeah, even if everyone fell asleep too soon and I didn’t have anyone to talk to.”

Rin sighs. Gou, lately, has been having trouble sleeping even if it isn’t obvious as she’s always so cheerful in the mornings. Rin only knows because he once came back home late after a long study session before exams and found her in front of his room, hesitating to go in. He gave her a glass of warm milk and asked what was going on, and she confessed that she was scared to go to sleep, which was a lot to take in because Gou never admits it when she’s scared. 

He’s pretty sure she’s too scared to go to sleep because it’s _that_ time of the year, the one in which they’re both haunted by nightmares of boats sinking and the ocean. They should probably go visit the grave soon.

“Did you have a nightmare?” Rin asks her in a soft whisper, carding his fingers through her messy hair.

Gou looks away and nods, biting her lower lip strongly in the way she does when she’s trying not to cry. She, pretty much like him, has mastered the art of pretending to be strong, but Rin just wants her to understand that it’s okay to not be okay all the time and that crying doesn’t mean she’s weak. Yeah, that was a lesson it took him a while to learn.

“You know what,” Rin says, “I’ll come find you after lunch, okay? We can spend some time together and call mom and, if you want, you can talk to me about the nightmare.”

Gou nods again, then takes another bite of her toast, “Promise?”

“Promise,” Rin smiles, pats her head one last time and goes back to the other counselors.

 

“Remember kids, no cannonballs,” Asahi reminds, fixing a kid’s swim cap.

Some of the kids huff, and Rin turns to look at Hayato who’s sitting next to him with their feet in the pool, “Are you not gonna get in?”

“I don’t want to,” Hayato shakes his head firmly.

“That’s fine,” Rin nods, “you don’t have to do anything that you don’t feel like doing, bud.”

Rin turns to look at the other side of the pool, where Makoto and Haru are helping their kids into the pool. Well, Makoto is, Haru is already in the water, teaching a little girl how to float.

After breakfast, they went back to their cabins to put their swimwear on, as the first sport that have today is swimming. Asahi told him that they’re going to teach kids how to swim later, at first he just wants them to have fun, and it looks like they are.

“Did you just splash me, huh?” Asahi taunts, making the boy who splashed him shriek happily, “oh, I’ll show you how to splash someone.”

Rin laughs as he watches Asahi start a splash fight between everyone, involving poor Haru who was happily floating with his kids. Soon, the pool turns into a splash fest and even Rin and little Hayato get wet. The only dry one is Makoto, who’s chuckling at the scene from his lifeguard seat.

“That’s enough, kids,” Makoto says, coming down, “why don’t we learn how to swim, now?”

“Yes!” the kids scream and Makoto laughs as he gets in the water.

“Today we’re gonna learn how to blow bubbles!” Makoto exclaims.

“How is that related to swimming?” a kid asks, timidly raising her hand.

As Makoto explains, Rin sees Haru get out of the pool and sit next to him, a towel on his head.

“He’s good with kids,” Rin points out while observing Makoto.

“He has two younger siblings,” Haru shrugs, “and he’s planning to learn how to become a coach.”

“Are you a swimmer, too?” Rin asks.

Haru nods, “I saw you at nationals. You.. you did good.”

“Were you at nationals, too?” Rin asks.

“Yeah, I swam in the relay,” Haru retorts, “we got third place.”

“Oh, I didn’t see the relays,” Rin admits, “I only stayed there the first day.”

“It’s fine,” Haru shrugs, “I would have qualified for free but.. things happened.”

Rin gets curious but he doesn’t question him further, “Are you planning to continue swimming?”

“Dunno,” Haru shrugs, “you’re aiming for the global level, right?”

Rin nods, “Yeah, it’s always been my dream. What are you planning to do, then?”

“Nothing really,” Haru shrugs, “I’m taking a gap year.”

“Oh,” Rin exclaims, “well, I hope you figure it out.”

Rin feels Haru turn to look at him, then he mutters a: “Thanks,” after a while.

They stay in silence for the rest of the time.

 

When lunch time comes, Rin is spent. He has no energy anymore and he wants to go back to sleep. He could do that after lunch, they have two hours of break, but he promised Gou he’d spend time with her. Maybe they could nap together.

After swimming, they took the kids to the showers and, once the got changed, they took them to the court to play some handball. Rin proposed to play dodgeball, as he remembers he loved it as a kid, but Haru just looked at him, terror in his eyes, and said: “We don’t play dodgeball anymore, that’s the first unofficial rule of _Ever Blue_.”

“Why?” Rin had asked, confused.

“Let’s just say Nagisa gets too competitive and leave it at that,” Haru had answered, shuddering.

“What are the other unofficial rules?” Rin had then wondered.

“Never give candy to campers after nine,” Haru had replied, visibly trembling and Rin had to stop there for his sake, but made a mental note to ask Asahi and Kisumi about the other rules later.

Anyway, as Makoto and Asahi rested after teaching the kids how to breathe in the water, it was Haru and Rin’s turn to look after the kids and they played some _intense_ rounds of handball. Now, they’re back in the dining hall, eating lunch after Natsuya and Nao have escorted the kids back to their cabins for an after-lunch nap. The older ones complained a bit, but one look at Nao’s tight smile and they all turned silent. Looks like Rin isn’t the only who’s scared. 

Goro and Miho stop by the dining hall to check up on them. Goro goes to talk to a blue-haired guy, whose name tag read ‘Rei’ and Miho comes up to him, “Are you adjusting well?”

Rin nods, “It’s a bit tiring, but I’ll get used to it, soon.”

Miho nods, “The kids are.. excited. They’ll calm down after a while, I promise. And you’ll have no problems, after all, you _are_ an humanitarian at heart,” she winks and then leaves.

“What..?” Rin asks confused.

Kisumi hums, “You must be an Aquarius.”

“A what?” Rin is _not_ following.

“Your zodiac sign, honey,” Kisumi smiles, “Aquarius are said to be humanitarians, that’s why she told you that.”

“She.. believes in that?” Rin asks.

“She’s big on astrology,” Kisumi shrugs, “and so am I. You’re Aquarius, huh? Let me tell you: be ready on June 13th.”

“Why..?” Rin wonders, not sure if he wants to know.

“Because there’s the new moon, _duh_!” Kisumi exclaims.

“And what does a new moon mean?” 

“The new moon is for new beginnings,” Kisumi explains, eyes all sparkly, “you’ve been feeling more creative lately, aren’t you?”

Rin shrugs, “I guess?”

“The new moon will help you with your projects,” Kisumi winks, “also Venus moves into Leo, your opposite sign, and there will be major shifts in your interpersonal dynamics.”

“And that means exactly..?” Rin asks, a bit in awe at Kisumi’s knowledge.

“New relationships!” Kisumi exclaims, “single Rin might be no longer.”

“How do you even know that I’m single?” Rin says, mouth opening in shock, “is that a zodiac thing, too?”

“No, silly,” Kisumi laughs as they stand up and grab their trays back to the kitchens, “I just saw the glances you stole at Makoto in the pool.”

“You weren’t even there!” Rin exclaims, “and I did _not_ steal glances,” he shrugs, “I openly stared.”

“Oh, honey, I don’t need to see when Asahi tells me everything, and he’s more observant than you’d think,” Kisumi smirks, “also, you might want to tune that down around Haru.”

“Oh no, don’t tell me that even they are together,” Rin buries his face in his hands.

“I don’t know, to be honest,” Kisumi confesses as they exit the dining hall and make their way to the cabins, “they’ve been best friends since their crib days and Haru gets _extremely_ possessive of Makoto.”

“Oh, so I can’t hit on either on them?” Rin asks, “is that another unofficial rule?”

“Pretty much,” Kisumi nods, “why, were you planning on hitting on one of them? Which one?”

Rin shrugs, “They’re both.. easy on the eyes and I’ve been single my whole life.”

“Really? You’ve never been in a relationship?” Kisumi asks him, eyes wide.

“Pretty pathetic, right?” Rin laughs bitterly, “I’m twenty.”

“Oh, little one,” Kisumi smiles, petting his head, “it’s fine, everyone takes their time to bloom. And, if it makes you feel better.. I’ve never been in one either.”

“Seriously?” Rin turns to look at him, “but you’re gorgeous!”

“I know, right?” Kisumi winks, “they’re all missing out.”

Rin laughs and notices that they’ve arrived in front of Kisumi’s cabin, “Well, I gotta go see Gou, catch you later.”

“Yeah, and oh,” Kisumi stops him, “if you’re not too tired, stop by my cabin tonight. We’re gonna go have tea with Nagisa and Miho-chan and when I say tea I don’t mean the one you drink.”

“Then what do you mean?” Rin asks, confused.

“It’s slang for gossip,” Asahi explains, having just arrived, “him, Nagisa and Miho _live_ for it.”

“Sure, I’ll come,” Rin shrugs, kind of tired of feeling out of the loop and always having to ask questions to everyone about everything.

“Perfect!” Kisumi claps his hands, “I’ll see you later, I gotta go have my beauty sleep.”

“You definitely need it,” Asahi yells after him, but Kisumi is already inside, “well, have a good rest, Rin,” and he enters the cabin as well.

 

Aiichiro places two big glasses of warm milk in front of Gou and Rin, and then excuses himself. Rin starts sipping on it, waiting patiently for Gou to start talking.

“It was silly,” Gou starts after a while, “the nightmare.”

Rin nods and waits for her to continue. 

She’s looking at the table, not raising her head or her voice, “I was at the airport and I couldn’t find my luggage. That’s it. But I was so frightened and I woke up crying.”

“Oh..” Rin murmurs, not sure of what to tell her, “I have no idea what that might mean.”

“It doesn’t matter, anyway,” Gou shrugs, “it’s gone now, right?”

She looks so scared and vulnerable that Rin doesn’t know how to deal, “Yeah, baby, you don’t have to worry about that, it’s all gone now.”

Gou nods and takes a sip of her milk, “Can we call mom now? The others are napping and I don’t want to go to sleep right now.”

“Yeah, let’s go,” Rin says and they both finish their drinks and head out. Rin takes his phone from his pocket and types the number. 

“Honey?” their mom asks after a few rings.

“Momma!” Gou exclaims.

“Oh, sweetie, you’re there, too?” their mom asks with a wet laugh.

“It’s break now and we’re together,” Rin explains.

“Should you even be calling me right now?” their mom asks.

“Well, technically call time for campers is supposed to be on Saturdays,” Rin shrugs, “but I’m not a camper, so..”

Their mom laughs, “Breaking the rules on your first day? You truly are my children.”

They tell her about their day in details and she asks them all kind of concerned questions, then she starts complaining about her client who apparently wants to change everything about the wedding every single day. They talk for a while, before she has to go back to work so she hangs up.

“Come on, I’ll walk you back to your cabin,” Rin says, grabbing Gou’s hand and she starts swinging them back and forth, obviously in a better mood than earlier.

He leaves her at the entrance of her cabin, hugs her tight and then goes back to his own. There’s a guy standing in front of it, a fellow counselor whose name Rin doesn’t remember.

“Do you need anything?” Rin asks him.

The guy turns around and shakes his head, “It's just.. I overheard your conversation in the kitchen.. with your sister. I didn’t mean to.. I was just passing by.”

“It’s fine,” Rin shrugs, not really that bothered.

“I’m planning to major in psychology and I took a course at the local college about dreams,” the guy explains, “dreaming about losing luggage is actually a good symbol. It is a request to let go of baggage or past issues that you are carrying around. It doesn’t matter in the dream what is in the bags. The bags represent issues that are holding you back. Did something big happen to her?”

Rin nods, “Yeah, we.. we lost a loved one.”

“I think it’s time for her to let go of her pain,” the guy advises.

“Easier said than done,” Rin murmurs, “do you.. have any advice? What can I do for her?”

The guy hums, “Well, there are different ways to deal with grief, and everyone has a different coping mechanism. Does she talk what happened?”

Rin shakes his head, “Not much.”

“I think she should open up more about what she’s feeling,” the guy continues, “that usually works, I don’t know, I’m not a therapist yet.”

“It’s fine, thanks,” Rin replies, “do you think.. is there someone here she can talk to?”

The guy sighs, “We don’t have a therapist, but Nao is pretty much our anchor so I’d recommend him.”

“We’ll try it,” Rin nods, “thanks again, man. I’m Rin, by the way.”

“Hiyori,” Hiyori replies, “and don’t worry about it. Well, I’ll let you go to sleep now. Also.. Nao never naps, if that can help you, in case you wanna go talk to him, he should be at the beach.”

“You’re a lifesaver,” Rin smiles, patting his shoulder.

“I do what I can,” Hiyori shrugs, then leaves.

Rin doesn’t feel like sleeping so much now, so he heads to the dining hall, makes himself a coffee and heads to the beach. As Hiyori predicted, Nao is sitting on the sand, staring at the sea in front of him, the light breeze messing his grey hair.

Rin hesitates for a second.

“Come sit next to me,” Nao says, not moving his gaze and Rin actually wonders if this guy has super powers or something, “Hiyori texted me, said you’d come.”

Oh well, that explains things, “I’m sorry to bother you during break.”

“It’s fine,” Nao smiles as Rin sits down, “I was getting kinda bored anyway. What did you need to tell me?”

“It’s about Gou,” Rin replies, “I’m worried about her.”

“Is this about your father?” Nao asks softly.

“You know about that?” Rin asks.

Nao nods, “Natsuya and I found her on the beach at night, last year. We were ready to scold her because she broke the rules, but she was staring at the ocean with such hatred and pain that we didn’t. We sat down to talk to her and she told us everything.”

“She didn’t tell me anything about this,” Rin murmurs.

“Gou looks up to you a lot, I’m sure you know that,” Nao starts and Rin nods, “she always says that she wants to be strong like you, maybe that’s why she hides her pain from you and acts like nothing happened. She doesn’t want to appear weak in front of you, she doesn’t want to disappoint you.”

“I wouldn’t be disappointed,” Rin admits, “I’d be proud of her because I _know_ how difficult it is.”

“Have you ever told her that?” Nao asks and Rin shakes his head, “say, Rin, how did you react when your father died?”

“Well, I was shocked at first, then I become numb for a while,” Rin explains, “but I knew I had to go on so I just.. grew up, I become responsible. Mom and Gou were a mess and I had to be the one who’d bring them back.”

“Maybe that’s why she reacts like this,” Nao comments, “I’m not a professional so this might be nonsense, but maybe she never saw you express your pain so she doesn’t think she should, either.”

“That.. that actually makes sense,” Rin nods, “thanks.”

“Do you want me to talk to her?” Nao asks him.

“Yes, please,” Rin almost begs him.

“I will, then,” Nao says, then stands up and holds out with his hand to help him up, “come on, let’s go back now, break is almost over.”

 

After the break is over, everyone goes back to their job. Rin and Asahi spend the afternoon drawing with the kids and playing games like capture the flag or hide and seek. It almost becomes dramatic when a kid hides so well they look for him for nearly half an hour, but then he comes out saying that he has to pee and Rin and Asahi almost cry for how relieved they are. Well, Rin _does_ cry, but no one needs to know that.

After dinner, Rin heads to Kisumi’s cabin as they had decided earlier. He finds him waiting for him, dressed in his casual clothes just like Rin, who finally managed to have a well-deserved shower. They head arm in arm to the dining hall, where Miho and a petite, honey-blonde guy who Rin assumes is Nagisa are waiting for them.

Turns out there _is_ actual tea, and Rin settles in front of his steaming cup as Nagisa yells: “Prepare for trouble!”

“And make it double!” Kisumi yells back, fist-bumping him.

Rin laughs and Miho hides a fond smile behind her mug. 

“Rin-chan!” Nagisa then exclaims, “I’m so happy to finally meet you. My, my, aren’t you a snack?”

Rin feels his cheeks heat up, “Nice to meet you, too.”

“Oh, none of that,” Nagisa waves his hand in the air, “once we share tea we basically become brothers.”

“So.. what do you have for me today?” Miho asks with a smirk and Rin feels confused after having seen her so composed and calm, truly the duality of a woman.

“The dream wedding is still nowhere near, I’m afraid,” Nagisa starts, “Nat is still travelling around, apparently he and Nao had a fight about that.”

“Well, if he wants to be such a free spirit,” Kisumi shakes his head, “why the fuck did he even propose?”

“Language,” Miho says immediately and Kisumi apologises, then she hums “it looks like he’s still scared of commitment.”

“Yeah, but why did he propose, then?” Kisumi repeats.

“He didn’t want to lose Nao, easy,” Miho says, “they were fighting more and more because of him, so he just popped the question to make sure he wouldn’t lose him.”

“He only wants two things from life: Nao and his travels,” Nagisa huffs, “but he can’t have both at the same time so he has to make a decision.”

“And Nao is hella smart,” Kisumi continues, “so I think that will be soon.”

“Poor guy, I hope he figures himself out soon,” Miho sighs, “speaking about the Natsuya, how are things between him and Ikuya?”

“Who’s Ikuya?” Rin asks.

“His brother,” Nagisa replies, “you might have seen him around, he has dark green hair.”

“Oh, yeah, I know who he is,” Rin nods, “are things not okay between them?”

“Long story short,” Kisumi starts, “they fought a lot when they were younger and now Ikuya has.. issues because of him.”

Rin flinches, “That’s harsh. Is it really okay to be talking about their private lives like this?”

“Well, I’m not sure,” Nagisa purses his lips, “but we don’t talk shit about them, we only do this to help them out later.”

“I see..” Rin nods, not fully convinced but he is a gossip whore underneath.

“They haven’t fought in a long time,” Miho says, “I’ve seen them play catch together earlier so they should be fine.”

“That’s good to know,” Kisumi nods, “Hiyori’s still following Iku around like a lost puppy?”

“Hiyori likes Ikuya?” Rin asks, interested.

“Hiyori loves Ikuya, honey,” Miho smiles, “it’s evident. But Ikuya’s still a lost soul even if he’s working on himself and those issues.”

“And, t-b-h,” Nagisa spells, “Hiyori kind of deserves to suffer a bit.”

“Why?” Rin asks.

“He was kind of an ass when we first met him last year,” Kisumi informs him, “I get that he’s protective of Ikuya, but he was too much. He only calmed down thanks to our help.”

“Onto my favourite couple now,” Nagisa smirks, “what have been Mako and Haru up to these days?”

“I thought Asahi and I were your favourite couple!” Kisumi exclaims, offended.

“Honey,” Nagisa smirks, “you have to actually _be_ a couple to be my favourite.”

“I’m working on that,” Kisumi pouts.

“You still don’t know if he likes you?” Miho asks.

Kisumi shakes his head, “It doesn’t matter how much you all say he does, I want to see it myself before doing the first move. We bicker all the time and..”

“Oh, sweetie,” Miho laughs, “you know who else bickers all the time? Married couples and children who like each other and don’t know how to say it.”

“Asahi kind of seems like a one of those kid who doesn’t know how to deal with a crush,” Nagisa agrees.

“Still,” Kisumi continues, “I gotta see it myself.”

“Okay, go at your own peace,” Miho assures him, “so? Makoto and Haru?”

“I work with them,” Rin intervenes, “but I didn’t notice anything unusual? They barely interacted even though they were physically close a _lot_.”

“They don’t understand the meaning of personal space,” Kisumi agrees, “how’s the betting pool going?”

“You have a betting pool?” Rin asks.

“Of course,” Nagisa winks, “I say that they’re already together but they’re hiding it, Kisumi says that they’re getting together this summer and Miho-chan says that they’ll get together in college. What do you think?”

“I think..” Rin stops to think about it, “well, if they _are_ together why would they hide it? I think I’m with Miho on this one. College usually brings new changes.”

“I knew you were a smart one,” Miho smiles at him, “now, Nagisa, I see you’re quite taken with your co-counselor.”

“I know what you’re thinking,” Nagisa says, “and the answer is no, I’m not interested in Rei-chan.”

“You didn’t know him before, right?” Kisumi asks him.

Nagisa nods, “Yeah, and he’s become a friend and that’s what he’ll always be so drop this now.”

“Okay, okay,” Kisumi relents, “sorry. Who else.. oh! Aki and Sei, of course! They’re still together, right?”

“Ugh, they’re so boring,” Nagisa complains, “Sei told me yesterday that they’ve never really fought, they just bicker sometimes but that’s normal.”

“Sei and Aki are together?” Rin asks in disbelief.

Miho nods, “Yeah, they got together two years ago and they’re still going strong.”

They then start to talk about the kids and Rin finds out that Hayato has a crush on Gou, which is pretty sweet. They talk about which thirteen years old has already been caught with alcohol or cigarettes and which ones have crushes on each other.

When they're done, Miho stands up, “Well, it’s time for this old woman to go to bed my darlings, see you all next week.”

They also stand up and heads outside, Rin still in disbelief on how basically everyone in this camp seems to be involved with each other. He wonders if he also will find someone, but that seems highly unlikely as the only people left are Ai and Momo, who Rin has no interest in and he quickly dismiss that idea. 

“Oh, I just got a text from Sousuke,” Kisumi exclaims as they make their way to the cabins, holding his phone in his hand, “he’ll join us on the 13th!”

**Author's Note:**

> Here we go, I genuinely hope you enjoyed it, make sure to leave kudos or comments if you did, a little encouragement goes a long way!
> 
> I hope you’re having a wonderful day wherever you are in the world and if you aren’t that’s okay too, just know that it will pass. Sending you my love!
> 
> come talk to me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/sskr_twt) i’m lonely and bored


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